'We've got to finish': Arizona Rattlers end fourth straight IFL season with agonizing loss

How much more heartbreak can the Rattlers endure? Are they cursed, or snake bit, so to speak?

For the fourth consecutive season, things unraveled in the end, and coach Kevin Guy was dumbfounded, frustrated, irate and didn't hold back with his feelings towards officiating.

Is that justified? Sour grapes?

Since winning the Indoor Football League in their first year in 2017, the Rattlers lost at home to the Sioux Falls Storm 69-68 in overtime in the 2018 semifinal; lost to the Storm 56-53 in the 2019 United Bowl; lost to the Massachusetts Pirates 37-34 at home in overtime in the 2021 United Bowl; and, on Saturday, lost in the IFL Western Conference championship game to the Northern Arizona Wranglers 52-51 after not trailing the first 59 minutes, 15 seconds of the game.

That's four losses, two in overtime, by a total of eight points (there was no 2020 season due to COVID).

Like in 2019, when Guy was furious with no pass interference called on a fourth-down play by the Rattlers, and an onside kick that the Rattlers recovered in the final minute only to be called off-sides, Guy blasted the officiating after Saturday's game.

Replays showed that receiver Jamal Miles interfered with Drew Powell's pass in the end zone with four seconds left. There was no call, and Trae Meadows intercepted it. Bill Atkins had his back to the play while all over Miles, who never had a chance at the ball.

A frustrated Guy threw his challenge flag, but Guy was out of timeouts, so even if pass interference was reviewable, he wouldn't have been able to challenge it. He said the league has to get to the point where everything can be challenged, and if challenges are won, then more than two challenges should be allowed.

After having a day to process and review the game, Guy, on Tuesday, texted, "After watching the film, my opinion has not changed."

"We did not play well in the second half," Guy texted. "There were some calls that went against us. I'm most bothered by not getting an official timeout when our kicker ws hurt and our medical staff was on the field."

Guy was referring to Ernesto Lacayo getting rolled into by a Northern Arizona defender, who was blocked into the kicker, after the Rattlers had taken a 51-45 lead with less than four minutes to play. Lacayo made the extra point but it was erased by a holding penalty. The Rattlers were trying to see if Lacayo was going to be OK to try to kick the extra point again. He ended up walking off the field, and the Rattlers rushed a two-point try that failed after the officials started the play clock.

"Bottom line is we turned the ball over twice in the second half and we had a third drive that we had two holding penalties and gave up a sack for three stops in the second half," Guy texted. "Our defense did not get a stop in the second half."

Now, after four straight years like this, what do the Rattlers do?

Do they make big personnel moves? Do they run it back with most of the same key guys back?

Powell was the quarterback of the last three season-ending heartbreaks and the target of criticism from fans.

Guy didn't put any blame on Powell after Saturday's loss. But there were signs of Powell succumbing to the pressure again. He was short on a pass to a wide-open Miles at the NAZ 15 that, had he thrown a good pass to him, would have given Miles a chance to either score or get out of bounds near the NAZ end zone.

Then, there was the pass into double-coverage in the corner of the end zone that got intercepted in the end.

As good as Powell was in the first half, when he led the Rattlers to a 38-24 lead, he looked out of rhythm in the second half, starting with the interception he threw on the first play of the second half when the Rattlers could have put NAZ in a three-touchdown hole.

Game recap: Northern Arizona rallies from 2-TD deficit to beat Rattlers for Western Conference title

In the postgame news conference, Guy was asked to comment on the difference between Powell in the first half and in the second half.

"I mean, you know, you saw the game," Guy said. "We were playing well. We had 38 points at halftime. We scored, what, two touchdowns in the second half. We got stopped three times in the second half and gave them an opportunity to win.

"We had the ball with two timeouts in that last drive (with 45 seconds left), and we had what, one completion."

Guy gave credit to Northern Arizona, calling them a good football team all year. But he called it a meltdown on his team's part, and he may be taking his officiating concerns to Las Vegas next week at the owners' meetings, before the Wranglers take on the Quad City Steamwheelers for the IFL national championship.

Bigger than the no pass interference call to Guy was no official timeout after Lacayo was on the ground in pain after his extra point.

"It's a tough way to lose, man," Guy said. "It's happened a few times this way.

"I don't know. We'll evaluate in the offseason, look in the mirror, and see what we've got to get better at, and go from there. But this is the playoffs and we've got to finish."

Guy on Tuesday morning acknowledged how much tougher it is reach the championship game in the IFL than it was in the Arena Football League, where the Rattlers won three titles in a row (2012, '13 and '14) and there were no restrictions on how many veteran players they could keep.

"The league/owners have created a system where we have parity," Guy said. "We have not had a repeat champion since we joined the league (in 2017). Five different champions in five years.

"The Rattlers are the only team to make it to the championship game three times in this system. Is is much harder to get to the championship game in the IFL than it was in the AFL. The rules restrict you from year to year. I think our staff has handled it the best out of anyone. We will continue to work as we always do.

"I'm not going to throw my players under the bus. I don't do that publicly. But we both know we should be playing for a championship right now."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Rattlers end fourth straight IFL season with agonizing loss